CIVILIZATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA
Unlike most of the other regions of Asia, Southeast Asia was never unified under
a single government, largely due to its formidable geographic barriers. Therefore, the
history of the area tells of the competition and interaction between several small states.
The Formation of States
Between 500 and 1500, a number of organized states developed throughout
Southeast Asia. When the peoples of the region began to form states, they used
models from China and India. At the same time, they adapted these models to their
own needs and created their own unique states.
The Impact of Geography
Between China and India lies the region that today is called Southeast Asia. It
has two major parts. One is the mainland region, extending southward from the
Chinese border down to the tip of the Malay Peninsula. The other is an extensive
archipelago, or chain of islands, most of which is part of present-day Indonesia and
the Philippines. Ancient mariners called the area the “golden region” or “golden
islands.” Located between India and China—two highly advanced and densely
populated regions—Southeast Asia contains a vast mixture of races, cultures, and
religions. Mainland Southeast Asia consists of several north-south mountain ranges.
Between these ranges are fertile river valleys that run in a southerly or southeasterly
direction. The mountains are densely forested and often infested with malaria-bearing
mosquitoes. Thus, the people living in the river valleys were often cut off from one
another and had only limited contact with the people living in the mountains. These
geographical barriers may help explain why Southeast Asia is one of the few regions
in Asia that was never unified under a single government. The geographical barriers
encouraged the development of separate, distinctive cultures within Southeast Asia,
with diverse cultural practices, such as different religions and languages.
Vietnam
The Vietnamese were one of the first peoples in Southeast Asia to develop their
own state and their own culture. This strong sense of cultural identity caused difficulties
for would-be conquerors. China, larger and more powerful than Vietnam, first
attempted an invasion in the 200s b.c.
After over a hundred years of warfare, the Chinese finally conquered Vietnam in
111 b.c. They tried for centuries to make Vietnam part of China; however, Chinese
officials were often frustrated by the Vietnamese.
The Vietnamese clung to their own identity. In the tenth century, they finally
overthrew Chinese rule. Chinese influence remained, however. Vietnamese rulers
realized the advantages of taking over the Chinese model of centralized government.
The new Vietnamese state, which called itself Dai Viet—Great Viet—adopted state
Confucianism. Following the Chinese model, the rulers called themselves emperors
and adopted Chinese court rituals. They also introduced the civil service examination
as a means of recruiting government officials on the basis of merit instead of heredity.
The Vietnamese adopted much of the Chinese administrative structure. This included
the village at the lowest level, which, like its Chinese model, was basically
independent. The state of Dai Viet became a dynamic force on the Southeast Asian
mainland. As its population grew, it expanded southward. Several centuries of bitter
warfare with its southern neighbor, Champa, ended in Vietnamese victory by 1500.
Continuing their march to the south, the Vietnamese reached the Gulf of Thailand
(formerly Gulf of Siam) by 1600.
Angkor
In the ninth century, the kingdom of Angkor arose in the region that is presentday
Cambodia. The kingdom was formed when a powerful figure named Jayavarman
united the Khmer (kuh•MEHR) people and established a capital at Angkor Thom. In
802 Jayavarman was crowned as god-king of his people. For several hundred years,
Angkor—or the Khmer Empire—was the most powerful state in mainland Southeast
Asia. Angkor faced enemies on all sides. To the east were the Vietnamese and the
kingdom of Champa. To the west was the Burmese kingdom of Pagan (modern
Bagan). With the arrival in the 1300s of new peoples from the north—known today as
the Thai—Angkor began to decline. In 1432 the Thai from the north destroyed the
Angkor capital. The Angkor ruling class fled to the southeast, where they set up a new
capital near Phnom Penh, the capital of present-day Cambodia.
Thailand
The Thai first appeared in the 500s as a frontier people in China. Beginning in
the eleventh or twelfth century, Thai groups began moving southward. This process
was encouraged by the Mongol invasion of China in the mid-1200s. These migrating
peoples eventually came into conflict with Angkor, destroying the Angkor capital in
1432. The Thai set up their own capital at Ayutthaya (ah•yoo•TY•uh) on the Chao
Phraya River, where they remained as a major force in the region for the next 400
years. Although many converted to Buddhism, the Thai were also influenced by Hindu
religion and Indian culture in their political practices, dance, and literature. This unique
blend eventually became the modern-day culture of Thailand.
Burma
The Thai were also threatened from the west by the Burmese peoples, who had
formed their society along the Salween and Irrawaddy Rivers. The Burmese had
migrated from Tibet beginning in the 600s, probably to escape Chinese armies.
The Burmese were pastoral peoples, but they adopted farming soon after their
arrival in Southeast Asia. In the eleventh century, they founded the first great Burmese
state, the kingdom of Pagan. Like the Thai, they converted to Buddhism and adopted
Indian political institutions and culture. During the next two hundred years, Pagan
became a major force in the western part of Southeast Asia. The capital city was at
the center of a network of highways, which allowed it to exert power over large
distances. It also played an active role in sea trade throughout the region. Attacks by
the Mongols in the late 1200s, however, weakened Pagan, causing it to decline.
The Malay World
In the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian archipelago, a different pattern
emerged. For centuries, this area had been tied to the trade that passed from East
Asia into the Indian Ocean. The area had never been united under a single state,
however. The vast majority of the people of the region were of Malay background, but
the peoples were divided into numerous separate communities. Two organized states
eventually emerged in the region. In the eighth century, the state of Srivijaya
(sree•wih•JAW•yuh) came to dominate the trade route passing through the Strait of
Malacca. At the same time, the kingdom of Sailendra emerged in eastern Java. Both
states were influenced by Indian culture. Whereas Srivijaya depended on trade, the
wealth of Sailendra was based primarily on farming. In the late 1200s, the new
kingdom of Majapahit (mah•jah•PAH•hiht) was founded. It became the greatest empire
the region had yet seen. In the mid-fourteenth century, Majapahit incorporated most
of the archipelago and perhaps even parts of the mainland under a single rule.
Majapahit did not have long to enjoy its status, however. By the 1400s, a new state
was beginning to emerge in the region.
After the Muslim conquest of northern India, Muslim merchants—either Arabs or
Indian converts—settled in port cities in the region and began to convert the local
population. Around 1400, an Islamic state began to form in Melaka, a small town on
the western coast of the Malay Peninsula. Traders found it a natural place to replenish
their supplies of food and water. Melaka soon became the major trading port in the
region and a chief rival to Majapahit. From Melaka, Muslim traders and the Muslim
faith moved into the interior of the peninsula. Eventually, almost the entire population
of the region was converted to Islam and became part of the sultanate of Melaka.
Life in Southeast Asia
The states of Southeast Asia can be divided into two groups: agricultural
societies, whose economies were largely based on farming, and trading societies,
which depended primarily on trade for income. States such as Vietnam, Angkor,
Pagan, and Sailendra drew most of their wealth from the land. Others, such as
Srivijaya and the sultanate of Melaka, supported themselves chiefly through trade.
Trade through Southeast Asia expanded after the emergence of states in the
area and reached even greater heights after the Muslim conquest of northern India.
The rise in demand for spices also added to the growing volume of trade. As the wealth
of Europe and Southeast Asia increased, demand grew for the products of East Asia.
At the top of the social ladder in most Southeast Asian societies were the hereditary
aristocrats. They held both political power and economic wealth. Most aristocrats lived
in the major cities. Angkor Thom, for example, was a city with royal palaces and parks,
a massive parade ground, reservoirs, and numerous temples. Beyond the major cities
lived the rest of the population, which consisted of farmers, fishers, artisans, and
merchants. In most Southeast Asian societies, the majority of people were probably
rice farmers who lived at a bare level of subsistence and paid heavy rents or taxes to
a landlord or local ruler.
Most of the societies in Southeast Asia gave greater rights to women than did
their counterparts in China and India. Women worked side by side with men in the
fields and often played an active role in trading activities. Chinese culture made an
impact on Vietnam. In many other areas of Southeast Asia, Indian cultural influence
prevailed. The most visible example of this influence was in architecture. Of all the
existing structures at Angkor Thom, the temple of Angkor Wat is the most famous and
most beautiful. It combines Indian architectural techniques with native inspiration in a
structure of impressive grace. Surrounded by walls measuring 1,700 by 1,500 feet
(518 by 457 m), Angkor Wat rises like a 200-foot-high (61-m-high) mountain in a series
of three great terraces. The construction of Angkor Wat, which took 40 years to
complete, required an enormous quantity of stone—as much as it took to build Egypt’s
Great Pyramid. Hindu and Buddhist ideas began to move into Southeast Asia in the
first millennium a.d. However, the new religions did not entirely replace existing beliefs.
In all Southeast Asian societies, as in China and Japan, old beliefs were blended with
those of the new faiths. In this process, the king played a central role. The ruler of
Angkor, for example, was seen as a living link between the people and the gods.
Buddhism also spread to Southeast Asia. It made little impact, however, until the
introduction of Theravada Buddhism in the eleventh century. From Burma, Theravada
spread rapidly to other areas of Southeast Asia. Eventually, Theravada Buddhism
became the religion of the masses in much of Southeast Asia. Why did it have such
appeal? For one thing, it teaches that people can seek nirvana through their own
efforts; they do not need priests or rulers. Moreover, it tolerated local gods and posed
no threat to established faith.
